Forum post of the day: The challenge
by Amanda Dean 
Oct 6th 2008 at 2:00PM
As a whole was as WoW players are a pretty tough crowd to please. This is probably because of the diversity of the player base as well as the variable goals that we set for ourselves. We range from casual PvPers to hard core raiders. We all have our fair share of complaints, but judging by the games massive popularity, it seems Blizzard has done a decent job of responding to the competing demand of its subscribers.
Amgusrex of Moon Guard is concerned that play in Wrath of the Lich King will not be challenging enough. He feels that Blizzard does a disservice to players by nerfing the difficulty of content with progressive patching. His post is pretty inflammatory, calling others cry babies and pointing toward a "massive population that is bad at video games." Taking a look at the Original Poster's Armory profile, I have to assume that he is not posting on his main, because if he is he still has to over come many challenges himself before declaring the game "easy mode."
The original post attracted Bornakk's attention, who pointed out that there are still plenty of folks still working through content and gearing up their characters. He also assured the OP that the next expansion will have challenges for all players. In a later post he pointed out that while Level 70 will be released, the expansion will not require all players to have Tier 6 gear in order to be able to play.
Over the years, Blizzard has eased up on many things, for example increased leveling from 20-60, the abolition of attunements, and the creation of multiple methods of obtaining epic gear. The achievements offer a new set of challenges. You can always make up your own challenges like level 1 to 60 without leaving your starting continent, race against the clock to the Sunwell, let's say 1 month of real time, or maybe keep a Lovely Black Dress and a Bouquet of Black Roses equipped at all times, even in instances. The possibilities are endless.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, Expansions, Leveling, Forums, Forum Post of the Day, Achievements
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Tristina Oct 6th 2008 2:09PM
Wrath of the "Lick" King?
Methinks Freudian slip...
Keyra Oct 6th 2008 2:17PM
I noticed that right away, but you beat me to the comment :-)
Given Sylvana's new duds and now the Lick King, this game seems to be getting rather...risqué. ;-)
Charles Oct 6th 2008 7:55PM
Please do not lick the Lich King.
Marc Oct 6th 2008 2:14PM
Quote: In a later post he pointed out that while Level 70 will be released
Sorry, what?
Tristina Oct 7th 2008 12:37AM
I can haz proofreading?
shiplore Oct 6th 2008 2:20PM
Life is challenging, paying my bills, being valuable enough at work to not get laid off, keeping my wife happy and our relationship flourishing is challenging. I get enough challenging from life. I want my games to be fun, and make me feel good.
WoW is great because it's what you want it to be.
if it's not challenging enough you're not trying. If you live for that challenge go get world firsts, go get duelist/gladiator titles,
otherwise leave the easier parts alone.
Hoggersbud Oct 6th 2008 2:20PM
Forum trolls from RP servers are the worst of them all.
Why? Because they think "forum troll" is a valid RP choice.
Nick S Oct 6th 2008 7:15PM
Among the Darkspear Trolls, there was an outlaw tribe known as the Forum Trolls. Warlike and depraved, they laid senseless waste to anything upon which their glazed eyes fell. Attempts to reason with them only infuriated them more! Their warcries, uttered in a distorted and hideous parody of the language of the Trolls, filled any who heard with disgust.
Yay RP.
patrick Oct 6th 2008 2:22PM
Man, I love it when the so called 'imba' set talk about the game getting too easy.
Simple rule: If you clear all the content in pve and get all the arena gear then basically you have no life, have skills that no-one will ever pay for (unless you are one of those losers who think a short career in esports makes up for failing university) and essentially will be removed from the gene pool due to you never remotely being attractive to the opposite sex.
Too successful at MMOPG = Loser in Life
Happy to Bumble Along in MMOPG without stressing about having the best gear, doing world or server firsts or being top in ratings = Normal
Enjoy being imba. The rest of us have a life.
keegan Oct 6th 2008 3:19PM
TerriBAD RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGE!
Jane Gray Oct 6th 2008 9:19PM
Actually, this is probably not true. A fellow amateur sociologist and I have developed the theory that true success in wow has two kinds of difficulty. There is the actual playing your class skill and the social skill. Getting very far in wow without a modicum of either is pretty difficult. (This also leads into my hypothesis that many female players seem to "suck" because their social skill has gotten them into a place where their playing skills couldn't have) The social skills that many people exhibit in wow do indeed have a lot of IRL value.
And is spending every friday night in a bar actually a morally superior "life"? Hardly.
Athanilia Oct 6th 2008 2:23PM
because Moon Guard totally needs more negative P-HNNGGHHHHHH
randy Oct 6th 2008 2:26PM
"Taking a look at the Original Poster's Armory profile, I have to assume that he is not posting on his main, because if he is he still has to over come many challenges himself before declaring the game "easy mode."
im so sick of armory snobs...
having the best armor in the game does not a good player make.
shiplore Oct 6th 2008 2:33PM
No this isn't armory snobbery this is common sense. You don't listen to a 3rd grader when he says he's gotten all he can out of the educational system...
ie. His gear shows there's tons of stuff he hasn't done yet, so it's not a question of too easy, it's a question of something else.. boredom, lack of organized grouping etc...
BitterCupOJoe Oct 6th 2008 2:34PM
However, it can give you a good idea of the level of content the character has cleared. At a quick glance, the character has nothing past Tier 5 content. One of the items is dropped by the easiest bost in SSC, the other is, IIRC, a zone drop. Everything else is either badge vendor stuff or Kara/Gruul's/Mags items.
Jhestor Oct 6th 2008 2:35PM
I think her point was that if the guy was complaining about the game being EZ-MODE, then perhaps it would be apropos that he have T6+ gear, thus establishing his level of "completion" with PvE content.
I'm assuming an armory inspection of his posting character probably reveals low to moderate level epics, which would be amusing given his ardor on the subject of the game being stupidly easy.
Swordchucks Oct 6th 2008 2:38PM
We're talking credibility here, though. If everything is "easy" then why isn't the OP in full T6?
Blizzard has a history of nerfing content to get people closer to where new stuff is coming in. Existing players benefit because it helps them level their alts and new players get up to the point where the expansions are desirable to them (thus letting Blizzard win by making more sales).
What's the point of having new content if only 1% of the player base ever sees it?
Balius Oct 6th 2008 3:53PM
@the replies:
You can't solo endgame content, and it could be argued that easing people through the game is responsible for the inability to find enough skilled players to tackle endgame. Or, going the other direction, that the simplicity of the endgame makes it a social game to get invited, not a measure of a player's skill.
Besides, the OP says he enjoys the current layout's difficulty, but is concerned about the upcoming HP nerf and what the future holds for Wrath. He never said anything about breezing through the current stuff, so evaluating his current progress isn't really relevant in any way. It IS armory snobbery, because it's using his current gear level to try to humiliate him even though it's not applicable.
onetrueping Oct 7th 2008 5:07AM
On the one hand, it could be considered armory snobbery, if he had something to back up his statements, such as numbers, timed runs, or something of the like.
On the other hand, his post is filled with inflammatory language and no such examples, leading one to believe that he is speaking from experience.
When one is using experience to back a point, one should be certain that one's experience is evident. Having low-level gear and trying to claim that the game is getting too easy FROM EXPERIENCE is all in all a rather stupid thing to do, since anyone with half a brain can throw the lack of experience in your teeth.
If he did specifically mention the so-called "nerf" of raid bosses, and mentioned some experience with the "nerfed" raid bosses (perhaps in Beta or on the PTR), his post would be relevant. No such evidence exists, therefor detractors are justified in saying that he has no evidence to back his claims.
Sivar Oct 6th 2008 2:26PM
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=10544542925&postId=107095045479&sid=1#85
The OP was called out by one of the trolls on our forum, and it turns out he has killed about 3 bosses in T5 and nothing beyond.